Cambodians gather at "Killing Fields" to remember those who died under Khmer Rouge rule

Record ID: 876450

  • Title: Cambodians gather at "Killing Fields" to remember those who died under Khmer Rouge rule
  • Date: 18th May 2017
  • Summary: PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (MAY 18, 2017) (REUTERS) PHNOM PENH CITY OFFICIALS PRAYING TO THE VICTIMS AT CHOEUNG EK KILLING FIELD MEMORIAL SITE PHNOM PENH MAYOR, PA SOCHEATVONG, LEADING HIS PHNOM PENH CITY OFFICIALS TO PAY RESPECTS TO THE VICTIMS MONKS PREPARING TO CHANT SOCHEATVONG PRAYING PHNOM PENH CITY OFFICIALS LAYING INCENSE MONKS CHANTING MONKS CHANTING IN FRONT OF MEMORIAL FILLED WITH VICTIMS' SKULLS SOCHEATVONG PRAYING PHNOM PENH CITY OFFICIALS PRAYING VARIOUS OF VICTIMS' SKULLS BEHIND GLASS PEOPLE WATCHING PERFORMANCE DEPICTING KHMER ROUGE VIOLENCE VARIOUS OF PERFORMANCE MEDIA WATCHING VARIOUS OF PERFORMANCE PHNOM PENH CITY OFFICIALS WATCHING SOCHEATVONG (RIGHT) WATCHING SOCHEATVONG AND OFFICIALS OFFERING FOOD TO MONKS MONKS WALKING PAST OFFICIAL PLACING DONATION IN MONK'S BAG VARIOUS OF MONKS COLLECTING ALMS PEOPLE PRAYING (SOUNDBITE) (Khmer) 59-YEAR-OLD VIETNAMESE WOMAN, KEO OUN, SAYING: "I offer this food through the monks to those who were killed and I ask them to wish us and the country good luck and that there will be no more fighting or killing in the future." MONKS COLLECTING ALMS (SOUNDBITE) (Khmer) 58-YEAR-OLD VIETNAMESE MAN, HIM PHEM, SAYING: "I mark this day when the Khmer Rouge soldiers killed many people under their rule, until the country was liberated in January 1979." MONKS COLLECTING ALMS
  • Embargoed: 1st June 2017 07:10
  • Keywords: Choeung Ek memorial Cambodia ceremony monks Killing Fields Khmer Rouge
  • Location: PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA
  • City: PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA
  • Country: Cambodia
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016HD7A6D
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Hundreds of people gathered at Cambodia's infamous "Killing Field" on Thursday (May 18) to remember those who died under Khmer Rouge rule.
    Between 1.7 million and 2.2 million people were said to have died during the ultra-Maoist revolution from 1975-1979. Most of them died of starvation, torture, exhaustion or disease in labour camps or were bludgeoned to death during mass executions.
    At the "Killing Field" of Choeung Ek on Thursday (May 18), some 15 km (9 miles) from the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, family members of those who died during the era offered prayers and gave alms to monks. Almost every Cambodian alive lost a family member under the Khmer Rouge.
    The event was held to mark the Day of Remembrance, once known as the "Day of Hatred", which is usually held on May 20 but was brought forward this year due to local election campaigning.
    Ceremonies are held at the memorial site to sustain awareness about the country's history and to prevent a repeat of the tragedy, officials say. Some students from the Royal University of Fine Arts on Thursday re-enacted gruesome scenes said to have prevailed during Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's rule.
    The decade-old tribunal, known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC), to try those "most responsible" for the killings has only delivered guilty verdicts to three defendants. Many want the ECCC, which was set up after an agreement between the Cambodian government and the United Nations, to speed up the process, but it has faced strong opposition from the Cambodian government, police and national investigating judge in pursuing further cases.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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